This was written by Ricalynn. I'm making a sticky topic for it so it will be easy to find.
Can I change empty residential lots to community lots to place missing lots? -- Yes but make sure they are empty. All lots that are edited in this way must have the sideways diamond or sideways plumbob maptag.
Can I place Sims from another EA town into my Dynasty town? -- Absolutely not. The only Sims allowed to be added in dynasties are founders for the Immortal Dynasty and Life States Dynasty. A player should only be using Edit town for placing lots that are missing due to expansions or for placing skills books that are missing from a town library. Every other change you want to make to your town has to be done through buying real estate in game or with permission to fix something broken.
Can I use Edit Town to replace the City Hall in Sunset Valley with the combination one from Bridgeport? --No. This is to be done on a case by case basis with approval from Metro, Ratchie, Pam or myself. Some rabbit holes can be replaced if there is a bug involved or to add something to the town. With the exception of empty lots, all other lots from a town must remain unchanged until such a time as your Sim family owns it and then makes changes via build mode. If you want to combine rabbit holes just to create more room for other buildings, think of what buildings have no value to a dynasty. Extra libraries, gyms, casinos and parks don't actually help with skills or requirements most of the time so if you still need room for lots that do help with requirements, think about trimming those down first.
Example of allowed replacements: You can replace the stadium in Sunset Valley with the Binder Clips stadium from Starlight Shores because it's both a stadium and a big show venue. Or if you are experiencing the combined building bug - you can ask permission to replace the combined building with two separate rabbit holes. Dynasties are about strategy and part of that strategy is the town you choose. All towns should still look like themselves once you've left Edit Town to start playing your game.
Can I use the buildings from Union Cove in another town? -- Yes; however, Union Cove buildings are the only player made buildings that you are allowed to be placed in Edit Town.
When I get a new expansion, can I place the new buildings into my town or do I have to wait? -- You have to place the buildings at the exact moment you load up the game after you receive the expansion. Sometimes the game will prompt you but not all of the lots someone may need/want are available at the time. This is a one time deal so make sure you have everything ready before you play your dynasty again.
Am I allowed to choose an empty lot and place a rabbit hole on it to get access to the new career? -- No. You are still not allowed to create your own lots from Edit Town. If you wish to place the gypsy caravan, or any other rabbit hole from an expansion in your town, you have two choices. If there is not a version of it in the community lot bin, you can save it to the bin from a new unaltered version of the expansion town or you can purchase a property in your dynasty game town and place the rabbit hole via the community objects category in build mode. If you choose to purchase the property to place the item, that property will then be sold by the game so remember that if buying a property is part of your requirements.
Am I allowed to add graveyards from other towns to my town? -- Placing any lot with a dead Sim on it is banned unless the Sim is removed before the lot is played. Adding dead Sims to a town they're not from is a lot like adding Sims which is also banned.
When I load up a new game, there are sometimes lots auto placed onto the empty lots the town came with. Am I allowed to move them/delete them? -- As long as you are not removing any of the town's original community lots, yes you can delete or move them. The equestrian center is on the dynasty lot when you start the game, yes you can delete it and move either the large one or small one to another lot in the town. Do not place the equestrian center on top of a lot that was already there like the fishing hole between the Landgraabs & Altos. If you don't want that Katy Perry BonBon park behind the police station, go ahead and remove it from the town. If you need to place a 60x60 lot at the end of Pinochle Road for a studio but the junkyard is in the large 40x40 lot at the end, move the junkyard to another lot in order to place the new lot where you need to.
Can I use the terrain tools to soften the terrain around a lot to give my sims access to a placed lot or to blend in placed lots with the surrounding world? -- Yes with limitations. If sims can't get onto a lot near the science center without running around the military base four times, then yes go ahead and soften the terrain to allow access to the venue. Even though none of the other terrain tools are advantageous in anyway, Edit Town is not to be used to make lots pretty. They are only to be used on lots that your Sim doesn't own to correct routing issues with placed lots.
Can I change the lot type of a lot in town to something else? Example:
The Water Hole Juice Bar in Riverview to a Hangout or Recurve Strand in SV to a beach or Small Parks of Moonlight Falls to anything. -- The answer to this used to be a flat no. With the introduction of Moonlight Falls and the small park situation, it was agreed upon that players can now change some lots. Small parks & undesignated lots can now have their lot designation changed to one of these four choices only:
Hangout, Beach, Big Park or Cat/Dog Park. The reason for this is to allow players the ability to purchase these lots in game to place rabbit holes as needed or to give more options for real estate purchases. You cannot delete these lots as per the rules but you can now purchase them which will allow you the ability to personalize placement of a few things you may not have been able to fit.
Example: Changing a 64 x 64 small park in Moonlight Falls to a Big Park. You can now purchase the Big Park and place a studio which needs at least 40 x 40 and one of the diners or the TL bistro since you still have room (if you wanted to). Note: Because you have to place the Casino, the casino does not fall within the allowance of this policy. It has to remain the same.
Can I place the festival lots made by the Gurus for Monte Vista and Dragon Valley? -- Yes. These are considered official lots. Please note that the Dragon Valley festival lot needs to be designated a festival ground in order to spawn festivals. This is the only lot that you can place that is allowed to have it's designation changed. No other lot placed by you can ever have it's designation changed.
List of Lots for each town that are allowed to receive a Lot Designation Change: If it's not on this list - ASK.
Always remember when it comes to Edit Town we're generally very set in our ways. If you want to know if something is allowed and don't see it in the rules or on this post, ASK before doing it. This could save you the trouble of losing the ability to get into HOF.
On 3/12/2013, the following rule change was made:The following lots are the only lots allowed to be placed from a vacation world into a homeworld: Phoenix Martial Arts Academy, The Scholar's Garden, Champ Les Sims Nectary, Keith's Komics, B's Bowlarama, The Grotto and Roasted Toasted Beans Coffee Shop.On 6/03/2013, the following ruling was made:Players who wish to play in Union Cove have prior approval to demolish Metro's Mansion and Amberlea Manor. Also, Velmoor De D'Onlyn is not allowed to enter the household or count as a best friend for the best friend requirement. He doesn't age and therefore could be a huge advantage to someone.
If you have already started a dynasty in UC and would like to demolish those two lots, you may do so. However, if you've already started, you cannot place any new lots on the new empty spaces. On 6/21/2013, the following rulings were made:In regards to placing lots: Yes it's cool we can now place lots over water. However, Players have never been able to place an empty lot just to place one and still cannot. This part of Edit Town is never going to change. If you place a lot, it needs to have a purpose and a venue put on top of it. Otherwise, don't place the empty lot.
In regards to moving towns: Immortal Dynasties are not allowed to move unless absolutely necessary, can't complete the challenge without it, permission is mandatory beforehand kind of way. Things to note about the new feature to move towns. It will be the preferred way to move towns but it has an adverse effect on ice sculptures. It reduces them to just discs. If your file ever gets so bad you have to move, the options will be weighed on which way is best for you and what you get permission to do.
In regards to purchasing private lots/additional homes: There is absolutely no reason why a family cannot buy a private lot. There are many advantages to having another lot and if someone can think of a reason it should be banned - don't hesitate to tell us. At this time, dynasty families are allowed to purchase extra homes. However, dynasty families still cannot move from their original location. The active lot must always be the one you purchased as soon as you started the game. Another stipulation is that private lots purchased cannot be an empty lot that was placed by a player. Sure you can by that empty 20 x 30 next to the Bunches but that new one you put down on the beach. Forget about it. Not an option. This is too close to making your own lots which is against the rules.
On 7/03/2013, the following rulings were made:
Resorts - If a player wishes to own a resort, that is their choice. To get access to one players will need to either place a resort from Island Paradise or convert a private lot to a resort. No new lots can be placed to be converted by you into a resort. Resorts are not business or properties so they don't count for those requirements. There is also no career associated with resorts.
Dive Lots - Due to the fact that it's glitchy and requires lots of cheating to place a lot somewhere other than IP, dive lots are not allowed to be placed in other worlds.
On 06/16/2014, the following changes were made:Players playing in Union Cove are allowed these changes to improve performance:
- Removal of extraneous parking lots via Edit Town.
- Removal of extraneous trees and shrubs via Edit Town.
Please note that these fixes are allowed only if you are playing in Union Cove.On 11/23/2020, the following rulings were made:
Dive Lots - if it can be placed without cheating, it can be done at the player's own risk.
